Newsletter No - Blue Mountains Association of Cultural Heritage ...

HERITAGE
NEWSLETTER OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS ASSOCIATION
OF CULTURAL HERITAGE ORGANISATIONS INC.
MARCH - APRIL 2012 ISSUE No. 20
Grand house victim of bushfire now a ruin
By John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian, Blue Mountains City Library
THIS burnt out
building ruin on
the side of the
Great Western
Highway at
Faulconbridge
was once a
grand house
with a tower
built for a
wealthy
businessman
Andrew
McCulloch in
the early
1880s.
The stone used
in its
construction
was quarried
nearby and the
work was
carried out by a
well known local stonemason,
Patrick (Paddy) Ryan.
McCulloch furnished his country
house using the exclusive Sydney
firm of Lyon Cottier and Co.
The property boasted a tennis court,
flag-staff and beautiful gardens and
an ornamental lake made by
damming a gully.
McCulloch named his new
residence ‘Weemala’, an Aboriginal
word said to mean “an expansive
view”, and spent the next few years
developing the grounds.
However, at the end of the 1880s,
he began to experience financial
difficulties and sold the property to
JW Cliff in 1889.
When Cliff sold the property, then
totaling about 113 acres in 1907,
the new owner, a solicitor named
George Evans, changed the name
to ‘Eurama’, said to be a Greek
word meaning much the same as
the earlier Aboriginal one.
Evans had also purchased the
neighbouring house, ‘Numantia’, a
wooden cottage adjacent to the
railway line with its own rail
platform, built in 1877 by Sir James
Martin, and to this he transferred
the name ‘Weemala’.
This has proved to be a source of
great confusion and many people
today still refer to ‘Eurama”’as
‘Weemala’.
When George Evans died ‘Eurama’
passed to his daughter, Mrs Emily
Ethel McLaurin.
It was later sold to Mrs Katherine
Nathan in the 1920s and around
1930, to Mrs Daisy Brown.
Following Mrs Brown’s death the
building was left vacant for a time
and suffered from some vandalism.
Over the ensuing decades many
owners had their dreams cut short.
The depression, war and other hard
times, falling on the owners. In the
early 1960s the then owner, Mr
Adams, set about restoring the
decaying property.
Restoration had been completed
just prior to the disastrous bushfires
on 1968.
The fire consumed the house in all
its grandeur and the building
remains a ruin today.
As a postscript to the ‘Eurama’
story, the Blue Mountains City
Library was given permission by Mr
Watkins, the then owner, to stage
an open air children’s adventure
theatre performance there during
the Bicentennial celebrations in
1988.
With the ruins as a backdrop the
property proved a most effective
site for this project.
Continued page 3
HERITAGE 1
March - April 2012

Contents.........
HERITAGE
March - April
2012
*P1 Grand house victim
of bushfire
*P2 Western crossing
bicentenary gets a
dynamic boost
*P4 Great-great-great
grand-daughter of
William Cox is
guest speaker
*P4 Annual meeting
marks 6 years of
achievement
*P5 Review of role and
future direction for
heritage
association
*P5 Internet and e-mail
*P6 Scenic World
Sculpture awards
announced
*P7 The Red Admiral -
an exhibition of
Patrick White’s
years at Mt Wilson
*P8 Dowell O’Reilly ...
father of Eleanor
Dark an author and
poet in his own
right
*P10 Sydney the soft
touch
*P11 Hazelbrook and
Woodford History
2nd edition
*P11 An outstanding Mt
Wilson potter of
yesteryear
*P12 The blacksmith and
his anvil the symbol
of runaway
marriages
*P13 Heritage and the
internet seminar
*P14 Wall hanging
recalls pioneer
ancestors
*P14 Blue Mountains an
Illustrated souvenir
*P15 Walk beneath trade
union banners
*P15 Venturing above
and beyond
*P15 Old Hartley bridge
*P17 Two BMFH authors
receve awards
*P18 Awards for 3 Valley
Heights Rail
members
*P20 State Library puts
$1.8M 194-year old
Australiana album
on show
An opinion from the editor.......
THE REGION is indeed fortunate to
have many dedicated and enthusiastic
volunteers engaged in heritage and
history work. This small army of
people from Penrith to Bathurst is
doing a great job in planning
commemorations and celebrations for
the 2013 -15 bicentenary of the
crossing of the Blue Mountains, the
discovery and development of the
golden west.
BMACHO, the Royal Australian
Historical Society and the National
Trust of Australia some 6 or 7 years
ago sounded the alert that 2013 -15
would be a golden opportunity to
create a lasting commemoration, of the
western crossing almost 200 years ago
and the events that followed
culminating in Governor Lachlan
Macquarie arriving by coach in
Bathurst to proclaim it a township.
Gradually local government has come
on board with token finances from their
limited resources for the project, while
the state government at several levels
including that of the premier and
federal local members have promised
support.
All this interest is welcome and part of
the need to involve government at all
levels and the people of this
community who must be an integral
part of the planning and event
operating process.
But what has been lacking up to date
has been a person or persons who
might drive this project and bring to
reality this great opportunity.
Just such a force has now emerged
with the formation of the Business
Supporting Bicentenary (BSB) funded
by Phil Hammon of Scenic World and
Tom Colless of Colless Foods. This
body could take a key role in securing
an estimated $3 million in government
grants and company sponsorships
needed to make the events reach their
potential.
[Some 4 years ago a rough calculation
by BMACHO’s executive suggested a
budget of $5 million. BSB has no doubt
Western crossing
bicentenary gets a
dynamic boost
refined BMACHO’s earlier ‘guesstimates’
which included $2 million government
and sponsorship funds for developing
public access and innovative interpretive
signage at various sites along the original
Cox’s Road between Emu Plains and
Bathurst]
Phil Hammon and Tom Colless are
dynamic businessmen who have the
Blue Mountains very much at heart and
in the past have not been slow to “put
their money where their mouth is”. Their
strong leadership in this vital part of the
bi-centenary celebration and
commemoration is the link in the chain
the project so badly needed
However, the Western crossing is not
just about Katoomba nor even the Blue
Mountains. It is about the whole region
from Penrith to Bathurst and possibly
Parramatta, Blacktown and the
Hawkesbury.
It is ludicrous to think no matter how
many “Memorandums of Understanding’
local government might sign that it has
the capacity to co-ordinate, obtain the
government and private funding and then
manage the event on a regional level.
It is also a recipe for disaster to ignore
the tremendous amount of work that has
been done by the volunteers, in historical
societies, National Trust , BMACHO and
others in the heritage sector. This group
under the able chairmanship of RAHS
president, Professor David Carment has
done much of the preliminary work.
It is after all, primarily a commemoration
of a major historical event. The aim
should to be to use the commemoration
to exploit the tourism potential which
must then benefit the region’s economy.
Government funding is more likely to
come for a regional project, rather than a
series of parochial events.
Federal and state government should
seize the opportunity to demonstrate how
our heritage linked with tourism is good
for the economy of the nation.
John Leary, OAM - Past president,
Blue Mountains Association of
Cultural Heritage Organisations Inc.
HERITAGE 2
March - April 2012

Property name changes
cause confusion
Weemala (1880s) became Eurama (1907)
Numantia (1877) became Weemala (1907)
The Eurama owners
The subsequent owners of
‘Eurama’, who consolidated it
into one estate and expanded
that estate to the present 141
hectares, have been of
individual significance: Andrew
McCulloch as the epitome of the
ruthless wheeler and dealer in
sellable land next to a projected
railway, the politician,
conveyancer and real estate
speculator who always had
inside information, an anti-hero
of the 1870s and 1880s; JW
Cliff, as a lesser player in
McCulloch’s world; George
Evans as a proselytiser for the
Mountain tracks, the eponym of
Evans Lookout, the builder of
the State-significant ‘Eirene’
(now ‘Cleopatra’); his daughter,
the formidable Emily MacLaurin,
and her husband, as heirs to the
Rouses and Fitzgeralds, as well
as the Evanses and the
MacLaurins, who brought the
first motor-car to the stables at
‘Eurama’ and the first Rolls
Royce, and reigned there with
something of the old-fashioned
authority of the quondam
squattocracy, leavened by
scholarship of which Badham
would have approved.Source:
NSW State Heritage statment of
significance
Continued from page 1
‘Weemala’ is now situated close to
the rail line behind the high stone
wall.
The cottage originally on this site
was erected about 1877 for Sir
James Martin KCMG. It was to be
his country residence and was
named ‘Numantia’.
Numantia being a region in Spain
and it has been said that Sir James
thought the countryside here similar
to that of Numantia, Spain.
It was a wooden house set behind a
high stone wall.
Sir James had acquired a large
amount of land from Sir Henry
Parkes and it was his intention to
build a huge mansion after he had
built this small wooden cottage.
The grand mansion never
eventuated.
The foundations only were laid.
They later c.1914 -18 became the
foundations for ‘Banool’ now ‘The
Bungalow’ on the corner of Martin
Place and Great Western Highway
at Linden.
In 1876 a railway platform was
erected to service the well-to-do
residents of the area. It became the
Numantia Platform but ceased
operation in 1892 with the platform
being removed in 1897.
In 1898 Adolphus Rogalsky
purchased ‘Numantia’ and it was he
who changed the name to
‘Weemala’.
This coincided with the name
change for the other ‘Weemala’ to
‘Eurama’.
The high stone wall of ‘Numantia’,
later ‘Weemala’, still stands.
The cottage was destroyed by
bushfire in December 1977. Since
then a new three bedroom brick
veneer cottage was erected behind
the stone wall. This building has
been badly vandalised.
Photographs from the Blue
Mountains City Library collection,
from the McLaurin family album.
John Merriman, Local Studies
Librarian © 2009 Blue Mountains
City Library
‘Weemala’ originally named ‘Numantia’
HERITAGE 3
March - April 2012

Great - great - great grand - daughter of William
Cox is guest speaker for BMACHO’S AGM
Dr Anne-Maree Whitaker
(pictured), the great-great-great
grand-daughter of William Cox,
who built the first road over the
Blue Mountains in 1814 -1815 will
be the guest speaker at this
month’s annual general meeting
of the Blue Mountains
Association of Cultural Heritage
Organisations Inc.
Her talk will be on her great -
great - great - grandfather,
William Cox, Justice of the
Peace, paymaster NSW Corps
and road builder.
Anne - Maree is working on a
biography of her ancestor and has
recently undertaken a research trip
to the UK and Ireland in pursuit of
family information.
Dr Whitaker has a PhD in Australian
history from Macquarie University in
Sydney.
She has published widely in
Australian Catholic and Irish
Australian topics and is an
independent professional historian
who undertakes research in a wide
range of 18th - 20th century
Australian topics.
Dr Whitaker is a Fellow of the Royal
Australian Historical Society and the
Royal Historical Society, and a
member of the Professional
Historians Association (NSW) and
the Australian Catholic Historical
Society.
Dr Whitaker was the winner of a
2010 National Trust Heritage Award
for ‘Sydney Parks - Signage and
History Website’.
She is also the NSW State Library’s
CH Currey Memorial Fellow for
2011 - 2012.
Annual meeting marks 6 years of achievement
The existing management
committee of BMACHO under the
presidency of Pamela Smith for the
past 12 months, has continued to
provide innovative initiatives to serve
the heritage sector.
Continuing on BMACHO’s list of
achievements in its first 5 years the
committee’s major milestones this
year include; the publishing of the
second Blue Mountains History
Journal, several seminars or
workshops, the publication of
another 6 editions of the newsletter
HERITAGE, support and advice on
various issues as well as planning
and organising the Blue Mountains
History conference for later this year.
The committee has been particularly
pleased to see achieved in 2011 one
of its strategic aims, the creation by
Blue Mountains City Council of a
heritage advisory committee which
in past years has seen a major task
of lobbying by BMACHO.
The annual general meeting is
scheduled for Saturday, March 14 at
2pm at the Grandview Hotel,
Wentworth Falls.
In the past year, once again there
has been a very compatible group of
experienced men and women who
have looked after the affairs of the
association.
Particular mention is made of
president Pamela Smith who has not
had an easy job balancing her
commitments, but has shown a
strong lead in the affairs of the
association particularly in the
organisation of this year’s major
event the conference in October
2012.
Dr Anne - Maree Whitaker
The extraordinary capacity and
ability of Jan Koperberg who as
secretary has not only developed a
very effective and timely
communication with organisational
and individual members, but in the
wider heritage community continues
to serve well past that of most
others.
Nominations for all position close on
March 9.
Pictured below is Pamela Smith
during a meeting with National
Trust CEO Will Holmes a Court
HERITAGE 4
March - April 2012

Review of role and future directions
for heritage association
A REVIEW OF BMACHO’s past and
possible future roles will be
undertaken by a small subcommittee
which will provide the
management committee with a
report and recommendations by
June 30, 2012.
Former BMACHO president John
Leary has said, “Voluntary
organisations such as those in the
heritage sector play a vital role in
society, but without strong
management much of their hard
work can be wasted.
“From time to time an organisation
needs to review its overall strategic
direction.
“All organisations need a strategic
plan and that plan needs to answer
three things: where are we now as
an organisation, where do we want
to be in three years time and how
do we get from where we are now to
where we want to be?.
“In the six years of its existence
BMACHO has achieved much and
now is the time to capitalise on
these successes.
“For the review to be a success we
need input and suggestions as to
what members would like to see the
association provide in the way of
services,” Mr Leary said.
‘Organisations
need strong,
visionary,
experienced
people to
provide
strategic
direction’
The committee will comprise
BMACHO’s president, Pamela
Smith, secretary, Jan Koperberg,
and former president, John Leary
with vice president Ian Jack and
former treasurer, Peter Stanbury
available to also provide advice.
The decision to conduct the review
has been discussed for some time
and recently the NSW Department
of Fair Trading recommended this
action should be taken every couple
of years.
It is 6 years since BMACHO was
established and it is now
considered to be an appropriate
time to look at various aspects of
the association’s role.
The review will consider the
following issues:
i. the quality and
appropriateness of the services
being supplied to members;
ii. the expectations of both
organisational and individual
members;
iii. the need and ability to
provide extended and other
services
iv. the ramifications of the
possible extension of the area to be
served by the association;
v. the necessity and
desirability of a change in name for
the association;
vi. the desirability of
affiliating or associating with one or
more universities; and
vii. any other area which
the committee may think
appropriate.
Some of the issues the subcommittee
will investigate include:
* The advantage or
disadvantages of increasing
BMACHO’s constituency to include
neighbouring, but historically linked
areas, such as Hawkesbury,
Penrith, Oberon or even
Bathurst
∗ The benefit to historical
societies and other heritage groups
from having professional advice and
guidance on site for e.g. exhibit
display and management or
archiving or restoration work.
∗ The advisability and
capability of BMACHO to provide
support within the capacity of its
members in their pursuit of heritage
advocacy.
∗ The need to broaden
BMACHO’s financial base to allow
more services to be provided to
members.
∗ The possibility of linking
BMACHO with a university and
other research facilities.
The sub-committee will also look at
ways to ensure that the association
operates within the principle of ‘best
practice’.
Anyone interested in making a
submission should make contact
with Jan Koperberg at
j.koperberg@bigpond.com
Internet and
e-mail
workshops
A series of four introductory
workshops for people wishing to
improve their skills in the use of
the internet and email will be
offered by BMACHO on Thursday
mornings April 5, 12 19 and 26.
The workshops will be free and
are funded by a generous grant
from Telstra Connected Seniors
Program.
The Workshops will be held at
Hobby’s Reach, the home of the
Blue Mountains Historical Society,
99/101 Blaxland Road,
Wentworth Falls.
The class size is limited and
preregistration is essential.
Further information from Barrie
Reynolds: phone 4757 4725;
email barrie.r@bigpond.net.au
HERITAGE 5
March - April 2012

Scenic World Sculpture
awards announced
A SCULPTURE of wool and wire
has taken out the inaugural
Sculpture at Scenic World $20,000
acquisitive award for pushing the
medium’s boundaries into the 21st
Century.
Greer Taylor’s work, Distant Time, is
one of 26 sculptures by 27 artists
from Katoomba to Belfast to be
displayed along Scenic World’s
ancient temperate rainforest
walkway, during the independent
exhibition open until until March 11,
2012.
The award was presented by Scenic
World’s new joint managing
directors, Anthea and David
Hammon, on behalf of the Hammon
Family Council during the official
exhibition opening last month.
Taylor’s winning sculpture
comprises two parts, small and
large formal pyramids composed
with red woollen thread woven
around steel wire, installed among
the ancient trees to reflect a distant
time that both contrasts and
compliments the landscape.
Ms Taylor said after the presentation
it was a privilege to create artwork
for a beautiful natural environment
that was being protected by the
Hammon family’s Scenic World.
“The respect for the art, artists and
the environment is what inspired me
to apply for this exhibition,” Ms
Taylor said.
“Distant Time reflects this forest. It’s
a web of random gatherings and by
placing this form in the rainforest
the sculpture and surroundings are
mirrored and magnified by their
differences.”
The winning sculpture was selected
by independent judges, UWS
Curator Monica McMahon and
Macquarie University Sculpture
Park Curator, Leonard Janiszewski.
The works of Cassandra Scott-Finn,
Infinity?, Elianna Apostilades,
Amber 302, and Heidi Kenyon, I’m
Still Here, have each been awarded
highly commended by the judges.
They stated:
“Scott-Finn’s work achieves a
mesmerising kaleidoscope of
constantly changing colour and
form that absorbs both viewer and
environment as elements of its
ongoing visual dance.
“Similarly, Elianna Apostilades
successfully sculpts form, light,
movement, environment and time,
transcending preconceived notions
The sculpture ‘Distant Time’,
displayed along Scenic World’s
ancient temperate rainforest
walkway
of the traditional key canons of
sculpture.
“Heidi Kenyon’s magical work
exposes the intricate preciousness
of the organic through light, form
and environment.
“The strength of all three works lies
in their ability to challenge,
readdress, reconstitute, and
reinvigorate sculpture in the 21st
century as an art form whose
fundamental visual language
incorporates environmental
elements as essential.”
Scenic World is an inaugural
member of BMACHO and the
Hammon family is active in the
conservation and preservation of
the early mining ventures in the
Blue Mountains. Phil Hammon is
the co-author with Phillip Pells of
The Burning Mists of Time - A
Technological and Social History of
Mining at Katoomba.
HERITAGE INDEX
BMACHO newsletter HERITAGE
from January 2009 to December
2011 has been index by Joan
Edwards of the Blue Mountains
Family History Society.
Joint managing directors of Scenic World, Anthea and David Hammon with
winner of the inaugural Scenic World Sculpture award Greer Taylor
(holding the Keith Rowe trophy) with exhibition curator Lizzy Marshall).
Photograph by Peter Stanbury, OAM
The index is available on the
BMFHS website at http://
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
~nswbmfhs/res/bmacho.htm
HERITAGE 6
March - April 2012

The Red Admiral - an exhibition of
Patrick White’s years at Mt Wilson
IN 2012, the Mt Wilson and Mt
Irvine Historical Society will
celebrate the centenary of Patrick
White’s May 28, 1912 birth date by
holding a year-long exhibition at the
Turkish Bath Museum at Mt Wilson.
Patrick White spent his formative
years as a young child at Mt Wilson
in the 1920s and 1930s; the
exhibition will highlight the impact of
both the Australian natural
environment and the influence of
working class and wealthy society
individuals and families that were to
strongly shape him for the
remainder of his life, as an
individual and as a writer of
international acclaim.
The story of Patrick White and his
family at Mt Wilson in the 1920s
and 30s (the so-called ‘Golden Age’
of Hill Station life in Australia) is rich
in historical interest, and yet,
remains well hidden to most people.
The project aims to heighten
awareness of the formative years of
White’s life in an easily accessible
and understood manner.
The exhibition has been specifically
designed not to be an academic
treatment of his literature, nor does
it require an understanding or
appreciation of White, or his works.
The goal is to foster a recognition of
a vital influence on White that has
previously been ignored, or
misunderstood, for many years,
despite the amount of research
undertaken on the most famous and
renowned Australian author.
The exhibition will be in the form of
a series of framed A1 sized posters
designed by a local professional
graphics artist.
The title of the exhibition is taken
from the name White used as a tenyear
old. His first published pieces
were about Mt. Wilson. The ‘Red
Admiral’ was his favourite butterfly.
The exhibition is to be opened at
11am on Sunday June 17, by the
Governor of NSW, Professor Marie
Bashir AC CVO at the Mt Wilson
Village Hall.
Ruth White, the mother of Patrick White, on the verandah of
Withycombe with an unidentified friend in 1923. Photograph Mt Wilson
& Mt Irvine Historical Society Collection
In association with the exhibition,
the Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine
Historical Society is hosting an
open gardens weekend on Saturday
and Sunday April 28 - 29.
Three beautiful gardens –
Withycombe, Sylvan Close and
Bisley - that are seldom open to the
public will be featured. Late April is
traditionally the time of year when
Mt Wilson’s famous autumn colours
are at their peak.
Withycombe was the childhood
home of Patrick White. His parents,
Dick and Ruth, bought the property
in 1921 and held it until 1938 until it
was sold to the Church of England
for ten shillings.
Near the front gate of Withycombe
is a tree which still carries, albeit
very faintly, the initials PW carved
into its trunk some ninety years ago.
The combined entrance fee to the
three gardens is $20 per adult;
children are admitted without
charge. Tickets are available at the
entrance of any of the three
gardens.
The gardens will be open from
10am to 4pm. Food, drink and toilet
facilities are available on the
weekend from the Mt Wilson Village
Hall.
Additionally, the Mt Wilson Turkish
Bath Museum will be open in
conjunction on both days.
This unique heritage listed building
is situated within the Wynstay
Estate at the end of The Avenue,
Mount Wilson.
It was one of the first properties to
be established in Mount Wilson, as
early as 1875, by Mr Richard
Wynne who also established the
Wynne Landscape & Sculpture
Prize in 1895.
The building was in use for a few
years for its initial purpose, as a
Turkish Bath, but now partly
restored it houses a museum of
local history operated by the Mt
Wilson and Mt Irvine Historical
Society.
The building itself is very stylish,
featuring many original features
including arched windows of stained
and hand painted glass. It has
exterior walls of polychrome
brickwork with Italianate decoration
and an elaborate turret with cast
iron finials and roof decoration.
Ornate roof decorations on
Turkish bath house, Mt Wilson
HERITAGE 7
March - April 2012

Dowell O’Reilly … father of Eleanor Dark an
author and poet in his own right
WHAT can we give in return
For her beauty and mystery
Of flowering forest, infinite plain,
by Pamela Smith - Springwood Historians
McCulloch is perhaps better
known in the Blue Mountains as
the owner of the - now derelict -
cottage ‘Eurama’ located at
Linden.
Deep sky and distant mountainchain,
And her triumphant sea,
Thundering old songs of liberty? 1
DOWELL O”REILLY, better known
perhaps as the father of author
Eleanor Dark, was a schoolmaster
turned parliamentarian and an
author and poet in his own right.
Dowell, born in Sydney on July 18
1865, was the second of four
children born to Anglican
clergyman, Rev. Thomas O’Reilly
and second wife Rosa (nee
Smith). 22
He was educated at Sydney
Grammar School and took up a
teaching post at ‘Hayfield’ to assist
his mother after his father died in
1881. 3
It was there that he met Eleanor
McCulloch – the music teacher -
who he married in a quiet, almost
secretive, ceremony on December
28 1895. 4
The bride’s parents and close
friends were absent which,
according to Barbara Brooks and
Judith Clark caused ‘quite a stir’
when the union became common
knowledge. 5
Albert Bathurst Piddington, who a
year later married Dowell’s sister
Marion Louisa, was his best man.
Piddington, like Dowell, had been
educated at Sydney Grammar.
Marriage to Eleanor Grace
McCulloch meant that he became
the son-in-law of the controversial
politician, Andrew Hardie
McCulloch.
The ruins of the cottage are a
familiar sight to road and rail
traffic as they pass by today.
O’Reilly was also related to Dr
Charles Badham, Professor of
Classics at Sydney University,
through Badham’s first marriage
to Julia, sister to O’Reilly’s
mother. 6
There is some speculation that
Badham may have assisted
O’Reilly’s mother when she opened
‘Hayfield’ as a preparatory school
for boys at Parramatta. 7
Scott; they became firm friends. 12
In 1898 he returned to Sydney
Grammar where he remained a
master until 1909. 13
An article in the Illustrated Sydney Although his literary career began in
News in 1889, suggested that the 1880s, it was somewhat less
‘Hayfield,’ presided over by Mrs. than spectacular.
O’Reilly, was an efficient and
comfortable school. 8
He is known to have destroyed
volumes of A Pedlar’s Pack,
Dowell and Eleanor had their first because sales of the book of verse
child, named for his father, in 1899. had been inadequate. 14
Eleanor, named for her mother, was
born in 1901, while Brian arrived in By the 1890s his literary career
1905. 9
seemed to have picked up because
he regularly contributed poems and
Dowell junior died in 1926, Brian short stories to the Bulletin and
married Norah Wilson and died at other publications. 15
Wentworth Falls in 1985 in the
same year as sister Eleanor (then Night classes at the University of
Eleanor Dark), who died in
Sydney in 1889 brought him into
Katoomba.
contact with scholar and writer,
John Le Gay Brereton, and the
In 1886/87, Dowell played cricket equally talented poet, author and
for Central Cumberland against the scholar, Christopher Brennan.
visiting English side, and in 1888,
he was commissioned second One-time Professor of Economics,
lieutenant in the Parramatta
Robert Francis Irvine, was also a
Volunteer Rifles. 10 He transferred to mutual friend.
the reserves in 1898.
The men were involved in
Dowell was elected to the
publication of the short-lived
Legislative Assembly for Parramatta Australian Magazine and were
in 1894, on a free trade ticket. members of the Casual Club. 16
Shortly after, he moved a motion in
parliament in favour of female
suffrage. 11
Dowell’s sympathies for female
suffrage endeared him to Rose
Dowell Philip O’Reilly
In 1910 Dowell contested the seat
of Parramatta as a Labour
candidate and counted WM Hughes
among his circle of friends. 17
Continued page 9
HERITAGE 8
March - April 2012

Continued from page 8
Friendship
with
controversial
prime minister
‘Billy’ Hughes
WM Hughes,CH,KC - Prime
Minister of Australia 1915 - 23
His friendship with Hughes was to
have long term effects and was
thought to have caused a rift with
his brother-in-law, AB Piddington. 18
A column in the Sydney Morning
Herald called ‘Sydney Day by Day’
carried a very tongue in cheek view
of Dowell.
The article implied that he was
somewhat of the ‘Bohemian order,’
and well thought of in ‘local literary’
circles. 19
The article went on to suggest that
Dowell found favour among the
‘womenfolk of the State’ although
‘not an enormous number,’ who, by
that time, had won the right to vote.
The Herald correspondent
suggested that Dowell had written
some ‘acceptable poetry’ and his
‘crisp and appetising’ style was
reflected in a letter sent to the paper
regarding his feud with Piddington. 20
Michael Roe suggested that while
Piddington was intellectually gifted,
he was of a turbulent disposition
and prone to recurrent ‘displays of
wayward emotion.’ 21
Thus, O’Reilly’s claim (see below)
may have been correct. However,
over recent years a darker side to
this feud has been revealed by
Helen O’Reilly and Marivic
Wyndham, which had little to do
with politics but more to do with
personal issues within the family. 22
Years of illness preceded the death
of Eleanor Grace O’Reilly, who
eventually died in 1914. 23 Dowell’s
second wife, Marie Rose Beatrice
(Mollie) Miles, who he married in
1917, was a cousin he met in
England in 1879. 24
He continued contributing to
periodicals and in 1913 published
Tears and Triumph, that, while
fiction, sketched an ‘outline of his
suffragette philosophy.’ 25
The local studies collection in
Springwood library hold several of
Dowell O’Reilly’s works including
Tears and Triumph, Fivecorners,
The prose and verse of Dowell
O’Reilly and Dowell O’Reilly from
his letters.
Dowell died of pneumonia and
vascular disease at Leura in 1923
and was buried in the cemetery at
Blackheath.
Endnotes
1
First verse of Australia by Dowell
O’Reilly.
2
Michael Sharkey, ‘O’Reilly, Dowell
Philip (1865–1923)’, Australian
Dictionary of Biography, National
Centre of Biography, Australian
National University, http://adb.anu.
edu.au/biography/oreilly-dowellphilip-
7917/text13773, accessed 21
September 2011.
3
Ibid.
4
Barbara Brooks & Judith Clark,
Eleanor Dark, A Writers Life,
Macmillan, 1998, p. 9.
5
Ibid.
6
Michael Sharkey.
7
Ibid.
8
Illustrated Sydney News,
3.10.1889, p. 19.
9
NSW Births, Deaths and Marriage
Indexes,
10
Michael Sharkey.
11
Ibid.
12
Judith A. Allen, Rose Scott,
Oxford University Press, Oxford,
1994, p. 254.
13
Ibid.
14
Michael Sharkey.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid.
18
Sydney Morning Herald, The High
Court, Identity of Mr X, Attack on Mr
Piddington, 15.12.1922, p. 11; The
Argus, Appearance of “X”
Remarkable Statement, “Mud Nine
Years Old,” 15.12.1922, p. 11. The
incident referred to questions asked
by Piddington about the part
O’Reilly & Hughes played in his
appointment to the High Court and
his subsequent resignation because
he felt compromised. O’Reilly
argued back that it was Piddington’s
hysterical nature that caused him to
resign.
19
Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney
Day by Day, 16.12.1922, p. 30.
20
Ibid.
21
Michael Roe, ‘Piddington, Albert
Bathurst (1862-1945),’ Australian
Dictionary of Biography, National
Centre of Biography, Australian
National University, http://
adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oreillydowell-philip-
7917/text13773,
accessed 21 September 2011
22
Abuse as a muse, The Sydney
Morning Herald Blogs,
Entertainment, http://
blogs.smh.com.au/entertainment,
accessed 20.6.2011.
23
Marivic Wyndham, ‘A world-proof
life’: Eleanor Dark, a writer in her
times, 1901-1985, UTSePress,
Sydney, 2007, p. 26.
24
Michael Sharkey.
25
Ibid.
The author
Pamela Smith a regular
contributor to HERITAGE , is
currently president of the Blue
Mountains Association of Cultural
Heritage Organisations Inc, a
founding member of Springwood
Historians and a member of Blue
Mountains City Council’s heritage
advisory committee.
Pamela has a BA (Hons) degree
in History as well as an Advanced
Diploma in Local Family and
Applied History. Her honours
thesis focused on private
education in the Blue Mountains,
while an earlier thesis dealt with
the presence of the fascist Old
Guard Movement in the Blue
Mountains in the 1930s.
She is currently enrolled in the
Master of History degree course
at the University of New England,
Armidale and has a special
interest in non-government private
venture schools, local/public
history, the Old and New Guard
and women’s history, especially
women involved in politics and
local government.
HERITAGE 9
March - April 2012

Sydney the soft touch
By Andrew Tink - Biographer of Lord Sydney
IN AN AGE when convicts could be transported for the
most trifling offences, it may come as a surprise to read
that the home secretary who sent the First Fleet to
Botany Bay was a soft touch.
While the sentencing of convicts was a matter for the
criminal courts, those who had been condemned to death
could plead to the king for clemency. As home secretary,
Lord Sydney was responsible for the paperwork and he
often tested George III’s patience with his lenient attitude.
When Sydney made sympathetic representations on
behalf of a convict sentenced to death for forgery, the
king replied testily: ‘there cannot be the smallest reason
for any farther delay as to the law taking its course on
George Owen…the execution of this unhappy convict [is]
absolutely necessary as an example’.
Sydney was once even castigated by a minister of
religion. ‘I am told that you have now obtained a pardon
for a man convicted of the horrid crime of wilful murder’,
the Reverend Charles Hardy said. ‘Do I now live in a
country where a secretary of state can in effect annul our
laws?’
On Sydney’s ministerial watch, the Transportation Act of
1784 had passed the British Parliament.
Among other things it provided that convict overseers
‘could inflict…such moderate punishment…as may be
inflicted by law on persons committed to a House of
Correction’. Crude as it was, this imposed a duty of care
on Lord Sydney and all others involved in organising the
First Fleet.
Sydney’s most important decisions included the choice of
Arthur Phillip, a firm but fair man, to be the convict
colony’s first governor. And they shared the same vision
for NSW:
• There was to be no slavery;
• The convicts would be encouraged to redeem
themselves through emancipation and land
grants;
• The ordinary rule of law rather than military law
would apply to them;
• The Europeans were to live in ‘amity and
kindness’ with the Aborigines.
In this short article Andrew Tink writes about the man
who gave Sydney its name. The book Lord Sydney:
The life and times of Tommy Townshend rrp $39.95, is
available from all good booksellers (in Sydney –
including, but not limited to: Lindfield Bookshop, The
Children’s Bookshop, Abbey’s Bookshop, Berkelouw
Books, Dymocks booksellers, Novella Fine Books,
Lesley McKay’s, Shearer’s on Norton, Pages & Pages
Bookseller, Potts Point Bookshop, Hordern House Rare
Books).
Equally importantly, Sydney resolved that the convicts
on the First Fleet were to be as generously
provisioned as soldiers going to the toughest
outposts in the British Empire.
In all, Sydney spent £ 58,000 to transport about 750
convicts and 250 military men to Botany Bay, using a
competent contractor, William Richards, to organise
things.
As a result, there were only about 25 deaths during
the voyage. Sydney’s generosity was criticised by
some of his cabinet colleagues though. And soon
after the return of the First Fleet ships to England,
Sydney retired.
Determined not to be a ‘soft touch’, Sydney’s
replacement as home secretary, the 29 year old
political up and comer, George Grenville, ordered that
the Second Fleet be prepared with ‘least expense to
the public’.
Richards was replaced by a firm of slavers, Camden
Calvert and King. And over 1,000 convicts were
shipped for just £22,370. As a result, 267 died.
Had Sydney the soft touch organised the First Fleet
the way young George Grenville organised the
Second, the first European settlement of Australia
would have failed.
HERITAGE 10
March - April 2012

Hazelbrook and Woodford history, 2nd edition
A SECOND edition of the 2007 National Trust awardwinning
Hazelbrook and Woodford history has recently
been published.
As the first edition of Hazelbrook and Woodford: a
story of two Blue Mountains towns launched in early
October 2006 had sold out by 2008, the historian and
author Ken Goodlet thought it time to do a second
edition for Christmas last year. That first edition is now
in, roughly, one in four households in Woodford/
Hazelbrook, but new residents have since moved in
whom he thought might be interested in getting a
copy.
Besides, new information and photographs had come
to light and Ken wanted to incorporate in the history
the events of the last five years, so there are more
photographs, more general information, more
appendices and obviously more pages. Important
features are specialist chapters by Dr Eugene Stockton
on geology and Aboriginal heritage and by Judy and
Peter Smith on native animal and plant life.
The bulk of the book is about the early settlers, the
holidaymakers, the community-minded spirits and the
later suburban-dwellers in these two communities that
have reinvented themselves over the decades.
While the book includes the fruit of research by earlier
historians and by Ken, it also includes the memories of
over 100 local people interviewed by him, supported by
some 340 local photos and maps.
When Ken first undertook the Hazelbrook/Woodford
project, he had hoped that there could be up-to-date
histories of all mountains towns. The fine work by Dr
Peter Rickwood on Blackheath has been a further step
in that process. The new edition at $30 is available
from local bookshops and from the author at
4758 6591.
Ken Goodlet’s book cover image — A Christmas
Journey, by T. Walter Wilson, Woodford Station,
1881. (The date indicates the drawing was the third
of four stations at Woodford. The station pictured
was, slightly west of the present station, just above
the recently demolished old railway cottages.)
This picture has also been painted inside the
waiting room of Woodford railway station.
An outstanding Mount Wilson potter of yesteryear
MT WILSON and Mt Irvine
Historical Society have overseen
the publication of an important new
book that celebrates the life and
creative output of an outstanding
local identity, Fred Mann
Fred Mann’s Mount Wilson Pottery
was primarily the result of the
efforts of two well - known local
residents.
The book was the brainchild of
Wendy Holland who has driven the
project with extraordinary passion,
energy and vision over the last two
and half years.
Roger Howard-Smith shot most of
the photographs in the book and
most generously covered the initial
printing costs
The book, to paraphrase John
Valder, ‘remains a cherished
reminder of a generous, cheerful,
friendly man’.
Many local or past residents of Mt
Wilson and Mt Irvine offered their
much loved pieces for inclusion in
the book.
The book is truly a local community
effort celebrating the pottery that
emerged from the white clay from
diggings at Yengo. Jess Delbridge,
grand-daughter of Arthur Delbridge
a talented graphic designer who
lives at Mt Wilson was responsible
for technical layout of the book.
The book can be ordered directly
from Wendy Holland 4756 2094,
Florence Smart 9416 1957 or Tim
Gow 4756 2031 for $20. All
proceeds of the sale of this book go
to Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine
Historical Society to underwrite
future projects.
Republished from Mt Wilson & Mt Irvine
Historical Society Newsletter No 28
HERITAGE 11
March - April 2012

The blacksmith and his anvil the symbol
of runaway marriages
BLACKSMITHING is a dying trade
and with it the blacksmith tools of
trade, the most prominent being the
anvil, writes John Leary.
There are many references to anvils
in ancient Greek and Egyptian
writings, including Homer’s works.
Because anvils are very ancient
tools and were at one time very
commonplace, they have acquired
symbolic meaning beyond their use
as utilitarian objects.
But by far the most romantic
reference to the anvil is attributed to
the anvil priest of Gretna Green, in
Scotland site of the famous
‘runaway marriage”.
Scottish law allowed for ‘irregular
marriages’, meaning that if a
declaration was made before two
witnesses, almost anybody had the
authority to conduct the marriage
ceremony.
In the 18 th and 19 th century almost
every European village had a
blacksmith and some carried on the
trade near inns or staging posts.
Local folklore has it that at Gretna
Green it was not unknown for the
blacksmith to be one of the two
witnesses.
The blacksmiths in Gretna Green
became known as “anvil priests”
The local
blacksmith and
his anvil have
become the
lasting
symbols of
Gretna Green,
Scotland
weddings
where the
ceremony is
usually
performed
over an iconic
blacksmith’s
anvil.
Gretna’s famous ‘runaway
marriages’ began in 1753 when
Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act was
passed in England; it stated that if
both parties to a marriage were not
at least 21 years old, then parents
had to consent to the marriage.
The Act did not apply in Scotland,
where it was possible for boys to
marry at 14 and girls at 12 years of
age with or without parental
consent.
Many elopers fled England, and the
first Scottish village they
encountered was Gretna Green on
the old coaching route from London
to Edinburgh.
The tradition of eloping English
couples searching for blacksmiths
resulted legally from the fact that
blacksmiths were necessarily
citizens and could often be
recognised by strangers by their
presence at their forge and anvil
The Old Blacksmith’s Shop, built
around 1712, and Gretna Hall
Blacksmith’s Shop (1710) became,
in popular folklore at least, the focal
tourist points for the marriage trade.
The Old Blacksmith’s opened to the
public as a visitor attraction as early
as 1887.
Since 1929 both parties in Scotland
have had to be at least 16 years
old, but they still may marry without
parental consent.
An anvil photograhed at Lithgow Mining Museum by John Leary,OAM
In England and Wales, the age for
marriage is now 16 with parental
consent and 18 without.
Today there are several wedding
venues in and around Gretna
Green, from former churches to
purpose-built chapels.
The services at all the venues are
always performed over an iconic
blacksmith’s anvil.
There are an estimated 5000
weddings services in the area each
year and one of every six Scottish
weddings.
Anvils have today lost their former
commonness. Anvils are still used
by blacksmiths and metal workers
of all kinds in producing custom
work. They are also essential to the
work done by farriers.
As much as the author of this article,
would like to have been able to
write, that the anvil on this page was
one on which marriages were
solemnised at Gretna Green or
anywhere else this blacksmith’s
anvil is one which John Leary,
photographed in a recent visit to the
Lithgow Mining Museum.
Nevertheless, the anvil has an
interesting history, as Ray Christison
writes on the following page.
But well
before Gretna
Green the
concept of an
anvil may
predate
humanity.
Chimpanzees
have been
observed
using large
sticks as
hammers to
crack nuts,
using logs as
anvils.
HERITAGE 12
March - April 2012

Large anvils still used by resident
blacksmith at Lithgow Mining Museum
In its heyday the Lithgow State Coal
Mine employed numerous
blacksmiths, farriers and welders.
These men made and sharpened
tools, repaired machinery, shod
horses and ensured that the
haulage ropes in the mine were
safe and functional.
They worked from the large
workshops building located at the
northern end of the colliery
headworks.
These were tough, muscular men
who gained a reputation for their
physical prowess.
Many trained in the art of boxing
and quite a few obtained
championship status.
Reg Kerrison, former Lithgow State Coal Mine master blacksmith
working on an anvil at a colliery in the Illawarra.
Blacksmith’s striker Billy Boyce
came close to winning gold in his
class at the 1948 Olympics.
When the mine closed in 1964 the
blacksmiths’ shop was cleaned out
and was used for storage.
Heritage and the internet seminar
BMACHO, with a generous grant
from Telstra Connected Seniors
program, will be offering a public
seminar on Heritage and the
internet on Thursday, May 10 at
9.30 am.
Speakers will include Dr. Carol
Liston (UWS), Michael Lech
(Historic Houses Trust) and Dr.
Peter Rickwood (UNSW and
Blackheath). They will be speaking
on the internet in heritage research,
in the management and researching
of museum collections and as a tool
for publishing historical journals.
Each speaker plans to distribute a
list of relevant websites for the
benefit of those attending.
The seminar will be held in the
meeting room of the Blue Mountains
Historical Society at Hobby’s
Reach, 99-101 Blaxland Road,
Wentworth Falls.
For further details: phone Barrie
Reynolds 4757 4725; email
barrie.r@bigpond.net.au .
Refreshments will be available and
a gold coin donation will be
appreciated.
BLUE MOUNTAINS HISTORY
CONFERENCE 2012
To be held at the historic Carrington Hotel,
Katoomba on, Satutrday, October 20
Conference title: Colonial Society
For further information and early bookings (capacity
limited to 120 participants) contact Jan Koperberg at
j.koperberg@bigpond.com or
bmacho.heritage@gmail.com
When the NSW Government
Railway Workshops at Chullora
were closed in the late 1990s the
City of Greater Lithgow Mining
Museum Inc was offered the
blacksmithing equipment from that
facility.
This was gratefully received and
formed the basis of a major
restoration.
Among the pieces gifted to the
museum were two large
engineering anvils.
These are now regularly used by
the museum’s resident blacksmith
and others involved in training
courses.
The Chullora equipment is a
significant ensemble within the
museum’s collection.
The Chullora blacksmiths’ shop
manufactured components for
railway carriages and locomotives.
During the Second World War this
equipment was turned to the
manufacture of Beaufort bombers
and Sentinal tanks.
The anvils are an important
component of this historic
ensemble.
HERITAGE 13
March - April 2012

Wall hangings recalls pioneer ancestors
RECENTLY the Lithgow Learning
Centre (Library) was the venue for
The Lithgow & District Family
History Society Inc. to celebrate the
launch of a wall hanging in
remembrance of pioneer ancestors.
Each member took a calico square
and either embroidered, painted or
sketched the details of their
pioneers who arrived in the colony
in 1788 - 1888.
The idea came from local member
Velma McFadden and the hanging
was designed by the members, the
squares were then sewn together
by Margaret Buckley and Sandra
Haley.
The quilting was done by Lyn and
Graham Husdon from Portland and
the society would like to thank them
both very much for the wonderful
job they did with the quilting.
The wall hanging was unveiled by
Daryl Jenkins the son of the late
Yvonne Jenkins who was the
founding member and first president
of the society.
Daryl spoke of his mother’s love of
family history and how for many
years she spent gathering
information on both her own family
and that of many other local
families.
She was an incredible lady and
would have loved to have been
present to see the concept of the
. Lithgow Family History Society president Eleanor Martin and
Daryl Jenkins beside the wall hanging
wall hanging and the finished
project.
Visitors and members were served
morning tea at the launch and this
gave them time to relate stories of
their ancestors while being able to
enjoy viewing the quilt.
The wall Hanging will be on display
at the Learning Centre until Friday,
March 16.
There is also a book with
information on each pioneer
available for anyone to view.
Blue Mountains an Illustrated
Souvenir
Photographer, Andrew Merry, in his
exhibition Blue Mountains: an
Illustrated Souvenir responds to
how the Blue Mountains has been
represented in art over the past
200 years.
The exhibition at Everglades
Historic House, Leura is open by
appointment from 11am to 4pm
from now until 15 April 15
His photographs explore popular
visual styles including ‘the
sublime’, the picturesque and the
postcard traditions.
The images offered are of cloud
filled valleys, cliff edges, brooding
landscapes, valley floors, fires
and the rejuvenation of the bush.
In doing so this exhibition
presents both a critique of clichéd
views and an enjoyment in ‘acting
out’ these clichés.
Locations for the photographs
include the Blue Gum Forest,
Hanging Rock, and the Grose and
Jamison Valleys. Enquiries to
4784 1938
For further information contact on
(02) 63531089 on Tuesday nights
from 6 - 9pm or on Fridays from
10am - 4pm or Helen Taylor (02)
63557231 or email
taygun@bigpond.com
Cox’s Road
walk at Linden
GLENBROOK & District Historical
Society will conduct a walk along the
Cox’s Road at Linden on April 28.
Along the Linden section of the
Cox’s road there remain some
excellent relics of carriageway and
sandstone kerbs hand chiselled by
convicts for whom work on the road
represented emancipation as they
laboured for their freedom.
Dr Grace Karskens writes in An
historical and archaeological study
of Cox’s Road and earlycrossing of
the Blue Mountains NSW , 1988 ‘...
Cox following the example of other
magistrates freely used the promise
of pardons as payment for all
aspects of the roadwork ... ’A total of
39 road labourers received between
them 35 emancipations, 3 free
pardons and one ticket of leave a
further seven were emancipated for
supplying horses and carts’.
For enquiries about the walk, contact
Doug Knowles on 4751 3275.
HERITAGE 14
March - April 2012

Walk beneath the trade union banner
LITHGOW STATE MINE Heritage
Park is privileged to again host the
Sydney Trades Hall collection of
trade union banners.
Representing almost 150 years of
trade union tradition these
magnificent hand painted banners
are listed on the NSW State
Heritage Register.
They are rarely available for viewing
by the public as there are few
spaces large enough for them to be
hung.
The former Lithgow State Mine Bath
House is an ideal place in which to
display the banners.
The bath house was originally
constructed in 1923 as a power
station for the colliery. In 1928 it
was decommissioned and
converted to accommodate showers
and change rooms for the more
than 700 men who worked in the
mine.
Free journals
available
THE following free offer will be of
particular interest to members,
both librarians and curators of
museums, societies and also
individual researchers.
Back copies of the following
heritage and museum publications
are available:
Australian Heritage
Museums Australia
Museum Matters (NSW)
Artbeat (Fed Dept Arts)
Artfiles Arts Directory 2004
Sydney University Museums News
Museums Journal (UK)
Museum Practice (UK)
Conservation Perspectives (Getty
Institute)
also
CAM, Cambridge University
Magazine
Oxford Today University Magazine
Contact: Barrie Reynolds phone
4757 4725; email
barrie.r@bigpond.net.au
With its open space and high ceiling
the bath house provides a
wonderful place to display the
banners.
The State Mine’s associations with
the history of the Miners’ Federation
of Australia also make it a most
appropriate venue for this
exhibition.
The banners will be on display at
the State Mine until the end of April
2012.
PENRITH City Council and Library’s
History conference Venturing Above
and Beyond will be held on
Saturday, March 10.
This year the conference will be
looking at the crossing of the Blue
Mountains and also hear about the
first flight over the Nepean area.
The Nepean River was the
launching point for many
adventurers exploring the Blue
Mountains in search of new lands
for the fledgling colony.
Men such as William Dawes,
George Caley and Francis Barrallier
attempted the crossing prior to 1813
and the conference will
acknowledge the efforts of these
early explorers.
At this time the settlement at
Castlereagh was less than 20 years
old and the large estates along the
river were not much more than
bushland.
They can be viewed during museum
opening hours, which are noon to
4pm Saturdays, Sundays, school
and public holidays.
Group bookings are welcome at
other times.
Admission fees are $5 per adult and
$3 concession. Tours can be
booked by contacting the museum
at statemin@lisp.com.au or by
phoning museum president Ray
Christison on 6353 1812.
Venturing above and beyond
A century later in 1911, William
Ewart purchased a plane and
brought it to Penrith to learn to fly.
He was the first pilot to obtain his
pilot’s licence in Australia in
December of that year.
In January 1912 he established an
aviation school at Penrith before
transferring his operations to Ham
Common (Richmond RAAF)
Keynote speaker at this year’s
conference is Associate Professor
Ian Jack, who will present some
history and development of the
District of Evan.
Dr Jack will be joined by Dr Grace
Karskens, who will be talking about
her research on Castlereagh. Peter
Finlay will be introducing the early
aviators in the Penrith area –
William Ewart and Leslie Jones.
For more information, cost and
registration phone Penrith Library
(02) 4732 7687 or e-mail
alisons@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au
HERITAGE 15
March - April 2012

From the editors mail box............
Old Hartley bridge on Great Western Highway
PAUL CARDOW who kindly
contributed the image (at right) of
the old Hartley bridge circa. 1920s
which appeared in HERITAGE
January - February edition has
written: ‘I’m not trying to be
pedantic, but the Old Hartley Bridge
is part of the Great Western
Highway, not Jenolan Caves Road.
The original caption inscribed on
the glass plate, did say Jenolan
Caves Road, which threw me
SEVERAL MONTHS AGO
HERITAGE published some of the
bouquets received in the e-mail.
Now published are a few more.
From Dorothy Warwick, Holroyd
Local History Research: Once
again, can I congratulate you on a
great newsletter! I have passed it
on to various other groups that I
belong to as it is such an interesting
read. Congratulations and best
wishes.
From John White, webmaster,
Campbelltown-Airds Historical
Society Inc: I received the Jan/Feb
newsletter via Stella Vernon who
has forwarded it to me. I’m very
pleased to see the list of research
web sites with journals of explorers
in this edition.
You have saved many people a lot
of time by doing the searches for
these sites, now to just get time to
read them. Thanks again, look
forward to future editions.
initially, giving me reason to check
the remains of the old bridge.
More accolades
Apart from this, I really enjoyed your
article and the related articles.
I’m more than impressed that Cox’s
road is to be marked out and
signposted. It would be nice to see
Bonaventure and the Old Coach
Roads at Rydal marked out before
they disappear as well.
Thanks for the correction Editor
From Lithgow City Councillor and
managing director Westfund,
Grahame Danaher: An excellent
publication.
From Christo Aitken, Blue
Mountains City Council’s heritage
advisor: I was on the mailing list
previously and did receive a couple
of your newsletters but you’re
right…at some time a gremlin must
have dropped me off the list.
Thanks for putting me back. It’s a
great newsletter…much time and
effort spent by yourselves on its
production…and good that you’re
readership is building.
From Julie Nixon, Holroyd
Historical Family Group: I am
currently researching my family who
grow bigger and bigger the more I
dig through our past. I look forward
to receiving your newsletter,
HERITAGE.
From Ken Goodlet, local historian
and author: Once again, a great
edition of HERITAGE. There is so
much there that I’m interested in.
Bob Debus
to reflect on
30 years in
politics
THE BERYL McLaughlin lecture
2012 will be delivered by former
state and federal minister, Bob
Debus on Saturday, March 3 at
the Wentworth Falls School of
Arts.
The annual lecture honouring the
memory of the Blue Mountains
Historical Society’s principal
benefactor, presents the
reflections of prominent Blue
Mountains citizens on both early
and contemporary life in this
region.
Mr Debus was the state member
for Blue Mountains from 1981 to
1988 and 1995 to 2007 when he
turned to federal politics as the
member for Macquarie retiring
Minister for Home Affairs after
one term in 2010.
Previous lectures have included
the historian Dr Jim Smith and
artist John Ellison.
FRIDAY 13 TH TWILIGHT TOUR
IT IS ALMOST as if organisers of
‘twilight tour’ for Friday, April 13 at
Woodford Academy are tempting
fate.
In March 1843, the convict George
Conway, who was renowned for
constantly escaping from his
guards, met his end at Woodford
Academy; some say his spirit
resides here still.
Hear stories of the eccentric and
colourful characters who resided at
the Inn since the 1830’s. Be
welcomed along the front verandah
by genial host of the 1840s, Mr
Buss.
Tours commence 6pm, 6.30pm,
7pm and 7.30pm.
Cost $20 adult, $10 child. Supper
included. Bookings essential prior
to April 9 to 4758 7809.
All are welcome to the 10.30am
lecture with admission by gold
coin donation. Morning tea is
available from 10am.
The Wentworth Falls School of
Arts is located on the Great
Western Highway at Wentworth
Falls, a short distance from
Wentworth Falls Railway Station.
Parking is available in the village
or at nearby Pitt Park.
HERITAGE 16
March - April 2012

Two Blue Mountains Family History
authors receive awards
THE WINNERS of two awards were
announced last month by Vicki
Edmunds, manager, libraries and
customer services for Blue
Mountains City Council, when she
made presentations to Rhonda
Flowers of Woodford and Jo Adam
of Lawson after judging
contributions to The Explorers’ Tree
magazines for 2011.
Commenting on the winning article
for The Bob Howard award for best
researched article: Families at War
“Lest We Forget” by Rhonda
Flowers, (The Explorers Tree
March 2011), Vicki said it was a
well written article that sets the
scene by explaining where the
Woodford War Memorial is, the
recent history of the site and then
the background to the monument.
“The reader gets an insight into
some of the names on the war
memorial.
“Rhonda has linked family
members, discovered resting
places and personalised an
otherwise static sculpture.
“I especially enjoyed the postscript
at the end of the article which
encourages us all to remember the
stories and families behind the
names on a war memorial
whenever we visit any town
throughout Australia.”
The Coolgardie Safe award for best
article that does not fit the criteria
for Bob Howard award, but which is
worth preserving and exudes a
breath of fresh air was won by Jo
Adam’s entry A Walk Through my
childhood – Tuesday is Washday
(The Explorers Tree March 2011.)
Jo did a wonderful job recreating
her memory of washday in 1942
Australia.
“She set the scene very visually
and I could even smell the story in
some parts.
“It reminded me of watching my
grandmothers’ wrestle with their
coppers and refusing any modern
up to date washing machines.
“This piece on war-time washing not
only captured what went on during
washday but caught a lot of the
social nuances that are hard to
document. (Clothes-props, the
health inspector, what it is like to
have a husband MIA), Vickie said.
Blue Mountains Family History
Society decided during 2011 to
create The Coolgardie Safe award
because so many articles submitted
to the magazine did not fit the Bob
Howard award criteria.
These are the stories that can be
easily forgotten and lost, if not put
into print.
Rhonda and Jo were both
presented with certificates and their
names will go on the shield in the
family history section of Springwood
library.
President of the Blue Mountains
Family History Society Inc. Jan
Koperberg said, thanks go to Vicki
Edmunds for agreeing to judge the
award and for her comments about
both articles.
The society’s thanks also go to
Rhonda Flowers and Jo Adam for
understanding the importance of
research and recording memories.
Above Viki Edmunds with Rhonda
Flowers and below Viki with Jo
Adams
Text and photographs contributed by Jan Koperberg, president Blue
Mountains Family History Society Inc.
Newsletter editor calls it a day
AFTER 15 years as editor of Mt
Wilson & Mt Irvine Historical
Society Inc, Elspeth Callender
has called it a day.
During this period Elspeth has
advanced her career as a
freelance writer and highly skilled
professional editor. She has
worked for the Mt Wilson & Mt
Irvine Historical Society in an
entirely voluntary capacity with
diligence and dedication.
Former president of the Mt Wilson
& Mt Irvine Historical Society,
Florence Smart has said, “That
along with the Turkish Bath, the
newsletter is the public face of the
society and thanks to Elspeth, we
enjoy a very positive reputation
throughout the heritage sector and
among our peer groups,”
Elspeth will now devote her time to
editing and pulling together the
large body of research and writing
which Mary Reynolds and others
have deposited into the society’s
archive, with the aim of producing a
manuscript ready for publication
which will present a history of Mt
Wilson in an enjoyable, readable
and saleable form.
The society has received a grant
towards this project from the Royal
Australian Historical Society
HERITAGE 17
March - April 2012

Awards for three Valley Heights
Rail Museum members
THREE MEMBERS OF VALLEY
Heights Rail Museum have received
recognition with awards from the
Office of Rail Heritage (OHR)
They are Brian Coker, Dick Butcher
and Phil Robinson
Brian Coker joined the fledgling
New South Wales Rail Transport
Museum at the inaugural meeting in
October 1962.
In 1964, two years after the
formation of the NSW Rail
Transport Museum, Brian Coker
was elected to the position of
treasurer.
Brian remained treasurer for the
next 13 years, standing down from
the position in the late 1970s. For
the next 10 years, he extended his
assistance to the various treasurers
as required.
It was during that time, that Brian
joined a locomotive restoration
team led by Bob Booth (and later
Tony Eyre) working at firstly,
Petersham Cable Shed, then the
RTM site at Enfield locomotive
depot. Brian remained with the
group until the ultimate move of the
RTM from Enfield to Thirlmere.
In the 1980s, treasurer’s duties
were, at times, carried out by a
number of members (including at
one stage, a full time paid
employee), but Brian Coker was
given the unofficial duty of assistant
to the treasurer, a task which Brian
performed long after he retired from
full time employment.
As late as the year 2011, Brian
assisted with RTM accounts,
wages, and general financial duties,
having worked at the various RTM
offices at Burwood, Redfern,
Thirlmere and Central Station.
Apart from 49 years of continuous
voluntary work for the NSW RTM at
Enfield, Thirlmere and Sydney,
Brian carries out voluntary financial
work for the Valley Heights group.
Brian has been part of that group
for more than five years performing
the role of treasurer during that
whole time.
Pictured left to right are Ted Mullett, Peter Berriman and Marianne
Hammerton (OHR) with award recipients Dick Butcher (second from
left) and Phil Robinson (right), Brian Coker (inset left ) Photographs:
courtesy of Andrew Tester.
Brian has also been active in the
Museum’s retail department both at
Thirlmere and at Valley Heights
providing customer service to the
museum’s clients.
Richard (Dick) Butcher joined the
NSW Rail Transport Museum in
1966. Dick has had an extensive
service in various RTM activities at
Enfield, Thirlmere and more recent
times at Valley Heights.
These activities have included
supervisory roles, running fitter on
many RTM mainline tours and
exhibit restoration of locomotives
5910 and 5711. Dick’s passion for
the railway preservation movement
continued when the Eveleigh
railway precinct was under early
threat of redevelopment.
Having worked part of his career
within the confines of Eveleigh Loco
and the Large Erecting Shop, Dick
knew of the industrial treasure that
still existed at Eveleigh and led a
personal campaign, writing many
letters to relevant authorities with
the aim of preserving what was left
of the Eveleigh Railway Workshops.
Over the years Dick has passed on
his vast knowledge in his railway
trade of welding to many of his
volunteer counterparts and has
assisted many kindred
organisations with his expertise.
In recent times Dick has been
called upon to assist with some
extensive heavy duty welding
repairs to exhibits belonging to the
Steam Tram & Railway
Preservations Society, at Valley
Heights. During this past year
Richard was asked to assist
Lachlan Valley Railway (LVR) with
some repairs to Steam Locomotive
5917’s firebox.
This required a highly skilled and
knowledgeable person in the field of
welding. Dick is well known within
the railway preservation movement
for his welding abilities and as a
result of his efforts LVR’s
locomotive boiler has successfully
completed hydrostatic tests.
Richard also provided a training
workshop to members of the Valley
Heights Division of the RTM in the
use of the MIG Welding machine.
These members lacked the
knowledge in the use of this
valuable piece of equipment and
Dick provided his expertise and
training from his many years in the
welding trade to insure it is correct.
HERITAGE 18
March - April 2012

Western crossing commemoration 2013-15
great ideas - thoughts - just being talked about or its really going to happen
Business supporting
Bicentenary
BLUE MOUNTAINS commercial
interests have formed Business
Supporting Bicentenary (BSB) with
a view to securing an estimated $3
million in government grants and
company sponsorship needed to
make the Blue Mountains
Bicentenary Crossing reach its
potential.
BSB funded by local businessmen
Phil Hammon of Scenic World) and
Tom Colless (Colless Foods) has
prepared a prospectus document
and information guide which
includes a core of 12 Blue
Mountains major events spread
over the years 2013, 2014 and
2105.
Among the proposals are:
• a bicentenary launch in
February 2013 featuring a
grand parade at the Echo
Point precinct, a fly over,
entertainment, fireworks
and an illumination display;
• a. Crossing Milestones
Festival to feature a reenactment
of explorers
Blaxland, Wentworth and
Lawson three-weeks
journey of discovery over
the Blue Mountains in May
1813, village events,
fireworks, community and
sporting events,
illumination of icons such
as Carrington Hotel
chimney, Three Sisters,
bridges;.
• an Aboriginal art and
cultural event that explores
the response of indigenous
Randall Walker, chairperson
Blue Mountains, Lithgow and
Oberon Tourism
people to the European
crossing;
• A Road Builders
Celebration involving
descendants of Cox and
others, soldiers and period
costume, hands on
activities such as stone
Grand parade of descendants
MT VICTORIA & District Historical
Society is planning a grand parade
of descendants. The parade will
recreate a similar event held for the
175th anniversary. The society will
seek out descendents of Blaxland,
Wentworth and Lawson as well as
Phil and Tom are joined on the
committee by leading businessmen
Randall Walker, Bruce Ferrier and
others.
Randall Walker, chairperson Blue
Mountains, Lithgow and Oberon
Tourism, said crossing bicentenary
events in the Blue Mountains have
the potential to reach an annual
audience of five million visitors.
William Cox and convict labourers
who built the first road. Organisers
are planning to carry horse drawn
drays some of the parade
particiapnts unable to take the walk
to Mt York on May 28, 2013.
Crossing! a Play
Wendy Blaxland, the great-greatgreat-great
grand-daughter of the
explorer Gregory Blaxland has
made an impressive presentation to
a recent meeting of the Western
Crossing committee concerning the
production of a play Crossing!
The play looks at the personalities
of the three explorers, the
circumstances that led convicts,
military personnel and free settlers
to leave their homes in England to
come to a unfamiliar land, the
crossing itself and its consequences
and the attitude of the Aboriginal
inhabitants of the area.
Wendy told the meeting, “Crossing!
is a re-creation of the expedition led
by actors, with satisfying ways for
its audience to be involved, not a
theatrical spectacle to watch. Some
individuals from the audience will
become members of the expedition,
and the audience itself will act as
the Blue Mountains terrain, be
invited to participate in songs and
celebrate vital moments with the
actors. The audience will
experience the hardships and
excitements of the crossing through
drama, suspense and humour.
“The creative team will be
professionals. The actors will
interact with the audience to help
populate the stage with the
convicts, horses and dogs who
accompanied the three named
explorers, and the entire audience
will become the terrain through
which they travelled.
“Music will be an integral part of the
show, and songs will provide an
authentic feeling of the early 19th
century. Costumes and props will
help the audience travel back
imaginatively in time. The play will
last 50 minutes.
“As an experienced writer and
theatre professional, I will write,
direct and produce this production.
Other creative talents are being
assembled, from an experienced
and distinguished composer
through to young people with whom
I have worked for some time,” she
said
HERITAGE 19
March - April 2012

State Library puts $1.8m, 194-year Australiana
album on show
A REMARKABLE 194-year-old
album of previously unknown
drawings of colonial Sydney,
Newcastle and its Indigenous
people, was publicly unveiled at the
Newcastle Art Gallery recently by
NSW Arts Minister George Souris.
The Wallis Album was found in the
back of a cupboard of a deceased
estate in Ontario, Canada, in
October last year before the State
Library of NSW secured its passage
home to Australia for $1.8 million.
The album was largely created and
compiled some 194 years ago by
Captain James Wallis, Commandant
of Newcastle between 1816 and
1818.
“The State Library is committed to
connecting the original documents
of Australia with local communities,
and we’re thrilled to be partnering
with the Newcastle Art Gallery in
BLUE MOUNTAINS ASSOCIATION OF CULTURAL
HERITAGE ORGANISATIONS INC.
REGISTERED OFFICE 14 Bunnal Ave, Winmalee 2777
E-mail: j.koperberg@bigpond.com or
bmacho.heritage@gmail.com
Website: www.bluemountains.heritage.com
ABN 53 994 839 952
THE ORGANISATION Blue Mountains Association of
Cultural Organisations Inc. (BMACHO) was established
in April 2006 following a unanimous response to a
proposal from Professor Barrie Reynolds at the 2004
Blue Mountains Local History Conference which sought
from Blue Mountains City Council the creation of a
cultural heritage strategy for the city.
BMACHO in its constitution uses the definition: “Cultural
heritage is all aspects of life of the peoples of the Blue
Mountains which was later changed to cover Lithgow and
the villages along the Bell’s Line of Roads. It therefore
involves the recording, preserving and interpreting of
information in whatever form: documents, objects,
recorded memories as well as buildings and sites.”
The objectives of the organisation are:
i. To raise public consciousness of
the value of cultural heritage.
ii. To encourage and assist cultural
heritage activities of member organisations.
iii. To initiate and support cultural
heritage activities not already covered by
member organisations.
sharing this important artefact that
has obvious historical and emotional
significance to Newcastle,” says Dr
Alex Byrne, NSW State Librarian and
chief executive.
“This remarkable album is the most
significant pictorial artefact to have
been made in colonial NSW during
the 1810s and is a fantastic addition
to the Mitchell Library’s unrivalled
collection relating to the history of
our nation,” says Dr Byrne.
The Wallis collection comprises 35
watercolours and drawings of
Sydney and regional views of NSW,
portraits of Aborigines and natural
history illustrations made in
Newcastle in 1818 by Captain Wallis
and convict artist Joseph Lycett.
“Wallis painted named portraits of
Awakabal Aboriginal people from the
Newcastle area which are incredibly
rare records of this community’s
An untitled drawing by
Joseph Lycett
ancestors,” said Mitchell Librarian
Richard Neville.
“The album includes a Lycett view
of Sydney Cove as well as one of
Wallis’ portraits which feature
Burigon with whom he shared many
pleasurable hunting expeditions.
Wallis album includes early
sketches of paintings by Lycett that
are featured on the Macquarie
Collector’s Chest c. 1818, which
Wallis gave to Governor Macquarie
to thank him for his patronage.
MEMBERSHIP The following organisations are members of
BMACHO: Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah,
Blue Mountains City Library, Blue Mountains Cultural Heritage
Centre, Blue Mountains Historical Society Inc., Blue
Mountains Family History Society Inc., Blue Mountains,
Lithgow and Oberon Tourism Limited, Blue Mountains World
Heritage Institute, Cudgegong Museums Group Inc., Eskbank
Rail Heritage Centre, Everglades Historic House & Gardens,
Friends of Norman Lindsay Gallery, Glenbrook & District
Historical Society Inc., Hartley Valley District Progress
Association, Kurrajong-Comleroy Historical Society Inc,
Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort, Lithgow and District Family
History Society Inc., Lithgow Mining Museum Inc., Lithgow
Regional Library – Local Studies, Lithgow Small Arms Factory
Museum Inc, Mid-Mountains Historical Society Inc, Mt Victoria
and District Historical Society Inc., Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine
History Society Inc. (including Turkish Bath Museum),
Mudgee Historical Society Inc., Mudgee Regional Library,
National Trust of Australia (NSW) - Blue Mountains Branch,
National Trust of Australia (NSW) - Lithgow Branch, Scenic
World – Blue Mountains Limited, Springwood & District
Historical Society Inc., Springwood Historians Inc., Transport
Signal and Communication Museum Inc., The Darnell
Collection Pty Ltd, Valley Heights Locomotive Depot and
Museum, Woodford Academy Management Committee, Zig
Zag Railway Co-op Ltd. The following are individual members:
Ray Christison, Associate Professor Ian Jack, Joan Kent,
John Leary OAM, John Low, Ian Milliss, Pastsy Moppett,
Professor Barrie Reynolds, Dr Peter Rickwood and Dr Peter
Stanbury OAM.
One of the aims of BMACHO is to bring the various
bodies into closer contact, to encourage them to work
more closely together and to provide a combined voice
on matters of importance within the heritage sector.
HERITAGE BMACHO’s official newsletter is edited by
John Leary, OAM.
Blue Mountains History Journal is edited by
Dr Peter Rickwood.
COMMITTEE The committee for 2011-12 is: Pamela Smith
(president), Ian Jack (vice president), Jan Koperberg
(secretary), Joan Kent (treasurer), Jean Arthur, Doug
Knowles, John Leary, Dick Morony (public officer), Kathie
McMahon-Nolf, Barrie Reynolds and Peter Stanbury.
.AFFILIATIONS BMACHO is a member of the Royal
Australian Historical Society Inc.
HERITAGE 20
March - April 2012